Souvenir coin elongation machines, such as a penny press, are commonly found at tourist attractions such as museums and historical monuments. The coin elongation machine is used to make a souvenir, keepsake, and/or metal tag from a coin (such as a penny) or other round metal blank by mechanically elongating the coin/blank and embossing in the coin/blank a new design. The coin/blank is elongated and embossed by a set of high-pressure embossing rolls which are usually mechanically rotated by the tourist/customer.
In order to work properly, the coin/blank must be admitted to the embossing rolls at a precise radial location, i.e., the contact point between an embossing plate and the opposed embossing rolls. To ensure that the coin/blank is properly admitted to the embossing rolls, prior art coin elongation machines require the customer/tourist to initially configure the embossing roll to a precise location before inserting the coin/blank into the coin elongation machine. The customer configures the machine by rotating a handle until a dial indicator aligns with the desired design on the embossing roll. If the dial indicator is misaligned with the embossing roll, even by a few degrees, the embossing plate will not contact the coin at the precise location and the machine will produce a misrolled or defective souvenir.
Not suprisingly, cases have been reported of prior art coin elongation machines producing defective souvenirs due to the customer/tourist's error in configuring the machine. It is desirable to provide a device which feeds or admits the coin/blank to the embossing rolls at the precise radial location even if the machine is not precisely configured by the customer/tourist.
Some prior art coin elongation machines have electrically powered coin feed devices which use electronic sensors to correctly admit a coin/blank to the embossing rolls at the precise radial location. However, such electric coin feed devices are costly and are subject to error during power outages. Therefore, it is also desirable to provide a mechanical coin feed device which is not electrically powered or electronically controlled.